in what way did the principles of Enlightenment thinkers John Locke, Baron de Montesquieu, Jean Jacques Rousseau, and William Blackstone influence the American founding documents?
The principles of Enlightenment hugely influenced the founding American documents especially the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. The main idea is the idea of social contract where the government is from the people for the people and the division of power. As the state is used to denote the institutions which have power divided among multiple branches that each has a control over the other. This is known as the system of checks and balances. Also the idea that the government is there for the people and exists to protect their rights also comes from the Age of Enlightenment.
